Sri Lanka succumbed to a crushing 61-run defeat against New Zealand in their T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 clash at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Wednesday (February 25). As a result, the Dasun Shanaka-led side bowed out of the tournament.

Chasing 169, Sri Lanka made a terrible start to crawl to 20/2 in the powerplay and failed to gain any momentum. Rachin Ravindra (4-27) then ran through the brittle Lankan middle order to help the Kiwis restrict the co-hosts to a paltry 107/8.

After the game, batting legend Kumar Sangakkara vented out his frustration on social media as Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup semifinals for the fifth straight time since lifting the coveted title in 2014.

“There is a lot of hurt all round. The fans devastated , disappointed , angry. The players are hurting badly too. I have been in similar dressing rooms. It’s not easy,” Sangakkara wrote on X.

“But this responsibility comes with the turf.  It’s a burden and a great privilege to represent your country and your people. There is a lot of work to be done at all levels to course correct. We can’t do the same things over and over and expect different results when the cricket world around us has evolved so quickly. We haven’t adapted and the danger is irrelevance,” he added.

Despite beating Australia in the group stage, Sri Lanka struggled for consistency throughout the tournament. They went down against Zimbabwe in their final Group B match.

In the Super 8 match, Sri Lanka were at the receiving end of 51-run thrashing against England before they suffered a heavy defeat versus New Zealand.

Sri Lanka will look to salvage some pride in their final Super 8 fixture against Pakistan, scheduled for February 28 in Pallekele.